Twilight: The new friend
by Solaris
Summary: A new woman moves in next to the Cullens, but she attracts the attention of Alice and becomes friends with them. But she has a secret that may hinder their friendship or maybe not. OFC & OMC. OOC. Character death.
1. Chapter 1

Twilight: The new friend.  
Author: Beth Brownell  
Rating: T  
Summary: A new woman moves in next to the Cullens, but she attracts the attention of Alice and becomes friends with them. But she has a secret that may hinder their friendship or maybe not.  
Pairings: Those from the book but for Edward/Bella. Possible Emmett/OFC pairing and a possible Edward/OFC pairing.  
Authors Note: This story came from a dream that I had and it is not what you think it will be. I own any original characters not seen in the series.  
Disclaimer: I do not, repeat, I do not own anything from the Twilight series like the characters or the plotlines, only this story is mine alone. I am not hired by anyone to write this story for monetary gains. This is fan fiction only. I will try not to hurt them.

**Twilight: The new friend.  
****Chapter One.**

"Will that be all, ma'am?" asked the man looking at the young woman who stood on the porch.

"Yes, it is. Thank you." The woman stated.

"Okay, take care and be careful." The man stated as he and his crew got into their truck and drove away.

The young woman with her dark red hair gazed at the road as the dust settled from the moving van driving away. She glanced up at the sky and smiled as she headed for the barn. She pulled open the door and looked within it before she strode into the walkway to look at the four stall barn.

The sound of a horn brought the young woman from the barn. She glanced up at the cloudy sky before she walked out of the barn towards the car. The woman within the car climbed out and smiled towards her. "Miss Sanders, I just came by to see how you are doing out there."

"I'm doing fairly well. I'm busy getting the barn set up for my two horses to come in another few days." Miss Sanders replied, as she pointed to the several gray panels by the barn itself.

"Do you need help with them?"

"Not really, I'm fairly strong as it is."

"Well, the local feed store is only a few miles from here and they're good." The realtor stated.

"What's their name? I might have them haul some sawdust bags out here."

"Well, they probably don't have much sawdust at this time but I'm sure they'll order more for you." The realtor replied. But she gave her the name and phone number. "I have to ask you about this again as I don't really understand why you wanted this place."

"I lived on a farm like this back in Missouri where the days were sunnier than this and I wanted to live away from my family and be independent." She stated. "When you were eighteen, you were able to go off and live on your own, right?"

"Yes," she replied.

"You were lucky. I didn't till now, twenty years after you lived on your own, I'm finally free to live on my own and please call me Tamia, I hate being called Miss Sanders." Tamia said, somewhat annoyed with her.

"Why didn't you . . . leave before now?"

"Family objections to me being on my own." Tamia replied.

"They probably think you will return home with your tail tucked between your legs right?"

"Most likely, but I'll prove 'them' wrong. They don't know that I already got myself a job here." Tamia replied.

"With whom?"

"The chief of police Charlie Swan as the station's dispatcher." She smiled slightly. "They never knew I was talking with him during the daytime, going over what the job would be . . . stuff like that."

"Well, good luck with that." She stepped back towards her car when she stopped and looked back. "Have you met your neighbors' yet?"

"I have neighbors?" Tamia asked shocked.

"Yes, the Cullens. Nice folks, recently moved in three years back. But very strange." She replied. "Why?"

"Well . . . I'm not fond of having neighbors. They can be very troublesome to me."

"Well, you don't have to worry about them, they like to keep to themselves and if you turn to the back of your house and walk about six miles that way, you'll reach their home within two hours." She stated, as she pointed to the north.

"Well, as long as they keep to themselves, we'll be peachy neighbors." Tamia stated. '_I don't like company_.' She whispered to herself.

The woman smiled and headed back down the road leaving Tamia standing there before she headed for her truck and got her cell phone out and dialed a number. A minute later, she hung up the phone and started her truck up and drove down the road towards town.

A short, black haired girl appeared in the front of the barn and then vanished just as fast as she appeared.

* * *

Tamia knew from her information on the town, that Forks, Washington was a small town but the feed store for the animals around there was not that large. She swore under her breath as she looked at the small amount of sawdust sitting in the trailer that they had. "When will you have another load come in?"

"Well, it will be next month . . . maybe." The guy replied.

"Great! This will not make two stalls full to my horses' ankles for sure. I'll just take to order myself my own trailer for the year to drop off a load when they pass through here. But I'll take what's left in the trailer right now." Tamia snapped.

"But that's only ten bags of sawdust!" he exclaimed shocked.

"You may not pamper your horses but I do . . . especially since they have traveled nearly half way around the country to get here. And I'll take two bags of horse feed too." Tamia snapped off. She was not pleased with how rude the guy was acting towards her.

The owner of the store stepped to his employee's side. "Can I be of assistance?"

"Well, turns out that you don't have much sawdust in the trailer and your employee here doesn't seem to want to part with it." Tamia replied.

"Well, the next shipment of sawdust is due next month." He stated.

"By what your employee stated, that it would be next month . . . maybe. It was like he didn't want to sell the sawdust to me." Tamia replied.

"Where is your place?" The owner asked. Tamia told him. "That's six miles south of the Cullen's place."

"So what's so wrong out there?" Tamia asked.

"Weird things happen around that place. You do not want to live close to that house." The owner replied. "You best move away from there."

"I bought the house and property and there will be no one chasing me away." Tamia replied. "Now, can I have the sawdust or will I be purchasing it on the Internet with another company?"

The owner glanced at the employee. "Put her order in her truck's bed, Brad." He turned to Tamia. "You better keep an eye on your horses. Danger lurks in those woods."

"Nothing that I can't handle with a rifle," Tamia replied angrily. She handed her credit card over and watched as he swiped it and printed off a receipt for the purchase.

"Well, have a good day." He said, as he hurried back to the office again.

"Indeed," she whispered as she walked back to her truck. She helped the employee with putting the bags of sawdust on her truck and then the two bags of feed. With a thank you, she climbed into her truck and drove away. "That is the last time I'll use them. I'll go to the next town over to their feed store to get my stuff."

* * *

Meanwhile, the realtor woman walked into the diner and sat down at the bar. The waitress poured her a cup of coffee. "So have you sold that house and acreage yet, Mary?"

"Yes, I have and I warned the young lady who moved in there today about the weird things that happen around there." Mary stated.

"Did she seem bothered by it?" the waitress asked.

"Seriously, it was like she didn't even mind it. But one thing bothered her." Mary replied, as she poured some cream into her coffee.

"What?"

"The fact that she has neighbors six miles away from her."

"Wow, does she know who they are . . . did you tell her?"

"Yes, I told her who they were and she was like as long as they don't bother her, she'll be fine. She hates having neighbors." Mary stated.

* * *

Tamia drove to the police station and walked in. The police officer that was tending the front desk looked up from his log to smile at her. "Is the Captain in?"

"Yes and you are?" he asked.

"Tamia Sanders, the new dispatcher." Tamia smiled, pulling out her ID to show the man.

He smiled. "Good, we could use an extra hand here especially when spring break hits, the kids go wild around here." He stood up and started to leave his post. "I'll go get the chief."

"No need too. I saw her coming in. Tamia, a pleasure to meet you finally." Charlie stated, as he walked over to her and shook her hand. He looked at her hand and then outside.

"Don't worry, my fingers are naturally cold. I get a lot of weird looks after shaking someone's hand." Tamia replied. "I would have been in sooner but I needed to get some things from the feed store. I may have to use another feed store for my horses' food and sawdust."

"Why?" Charlie asked, as they walked to his office.

"They just seemed to be resistant in giving me any sawdust and when I asked when they were going to get more the employee stated next month." Tamia replied. "Truthfully, speaking, it was like they didn't like me the moment I walked into the store."

"Well, you are new here, give it time for them to get used to you." Charlie said, looking at her. "Are you okay? You look a little pale?"

Tamia turned from looking at the station to look at him. "I'm fine, just didn't have anything to eat for a few hours. I'll be fine after I get a bite to eat."

Charlie looked at the clock. "Well, it is lunch time. Why don't we go to the local diner and have lunch together? It is a way to let people know that a new person is in town, if the gossip mongers are not already on the phones about you."

"Well, I guess I could go with you. I eat light, just so you know." Tamia smiled at his offer.

Charlie smiled as he headed out of the station towards the local diner where they got seated at the bar. Charlie introduced her to the waitresses and to the locals who were already there. After they scanned the menu and ordered the soup and sandwich of the day. Charlie looked at her and smiled. It had been too long since he sat down with a woman beyond his daughter and had a meal. "So is your boyfriend going to move up here with you?" Tamia placed her cup of tea down and looked up at him a bit shocked by the question. He took notice of it. "Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pried like that."

"No, it's okay. I knew it would be brought up sooner or later. But for your information, Charlie, I don't do boyfriends. I'm single for now since I haven't found any man who I feel would be good for me." She replied.

"Ah, so you're a loner for now."

"Yes, till I find the one for me. It may take me years to find but I'm okay with it. It gives me time to concentrate more on my horses and my job then worrying about how my boyfriend will handle with my job and my horses."

"So what breed are your horses?"

"They're Paso Fino, a gaited breed."

"Can you ride them?"

"Of course I can. I showed them professionally, till early this year when I got an injury that resulted in my retirement from the ring."

"What happened, if I can ask?"

"At this time, I just don't want to talk about it." Tamia turned her eyes away.

Charlie nodded as he looked at her. "So when will they come here?"

"In another two days. I'm trying my best to get their stalls prepared as soon as possible since I left them at home to be shipped to me here."

"So did your folks complain about you leaving?"

"Oh you should have heard my mother scream and yell about it. She tried to pull her 'I'll put your horses down if you dare go' stunt. I told her that I would be arranging for transport to have them moved here and that shut her mouth fast. She doubts as does my older brother that I'll be staying here for long." Tamia replied, as the waitress placed down their order.

"Well, I'm glad you moved out here. Now, where is your new place at?"

"By the Cullens', about six miles south of them. They're my only neighbors around there." Charlie's face went a bit upset. Tamia noticed the look on his face. "Do you know them?"

"Well, yes, the Cullen's son Edward dated my daughter but he broke up with her when he learned that she was seeing another behind his back. Sort of hurt his feelings." Charlie replied.

"I hate to say this about someone I do not know . . . but what a bitch she is to cheat on a boy before she broke up before starting to date another guy." Tamia replied. They never noticed the black haired woman walking past them slowed her pace down to listen in on their talk before walking away.

"Yeah, I told her that she needed to break up with him before dating the other guy. But she didn't listen, she said that Edward would always stay by her side." Charlie said. "When he found out, he told her in very short words not to visit, not to call and he walked out of the house never returning her calls she would make to his cell."

"Does he have another girlfriend now?"

"Sadly, no. He has no interest in getting another at this time." Tamia went silent as they finished their lunch, Charlie paid for both meals and headed out back to the station. "Well, I'll see you on Tuesday morning around 7:30am, Tamia."

"Okay, I'll be there." Tamia headed for her truck and drove home.

**The next chapter will come soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two.**

Once back at home, she backed her truck up to the barn's door, a glance up towards the house made her look again as she saw a young woman standing on the porch. She wondered why she didn't see her there before. She got out and walked towards her. "Can I help you?"

"I heard rumors that the house was bought and I came to introduce myself to you. I'm Alice Cullen, your new neighbor." Alice said, as she held out her hand.

"Tamia Sanders," Tamia stated, as she shook her hand. She looked at Alice's hand. "Guess we got something in common."

"What's that?" Alice asked. She knew something was off as Tamia's hand should have been warm.

"We both have cold fingers. It's something that I had since I could remember." Tamia stated. She glanced around. "Will I be meeting the others?"

"The rest of my family?"

"Yes,"

"Possibly later tonight or tomorrow evening. My brothers, husband-to-be and sister is off doing other things and they don't know that this place has been sold." Alice stated, as she looked towards the barn. "Horses or cattle?"

"Horses. You ride?" asked Tamia, as she looked at her.

"Not often enough, horses tend not to like being around me very often."

"Oh, my two just loves being around people. One would think that they were once human before being reborn as a horse." Tamia replied with a smile on her face.

Alice chuckled at that. "So when will they be here?"

"In couple of days . . . I hope, but they could also be here tomorrow afternoon." Tamia said.

"Oh, so you are getting everything ready for them?"

"Yes, I . . ." Tamia paused long enough to pull out her cell and looked at the screen. "Hold on. Tamia Sanders speaking? Yes. You'll be what! Uh no, nothings wrong. I just now have to push everything up a few hours. Okay, bye." She closed her cell phone and then swore under her breath. She glanced over at Alice who had just closed her own cell phone. "I'm sorry but I have to get back to work on getting my stalls finished and the panels put up before night falls. The trailer that's hauling my horses here will be here tomorrow morning. A good ten hours sooner than I had expected."

"Well, I called my brothers, sister and my husband and I told them what's going on, I figured it had to be something like that. They will be here shortly to give you a helping hand with the panels." Alice replied. "So have you figured out how they're going to be?"

"Well, since the fence is not ready to have horses in them since there are some work that needs to be done."

"Well, my family will be here soon. I'll help what I can," Alice suggested.

"Well, I have to figure out where to place the panels at since they are needed to be up now instead of tomorrow."

"Well, why don't we go over and figure it out?"

Tamia nodded as they walked over and sized how many steps it would be for each panel. Ten minutes later, they both figured out where the panels would go and how large the paddock would be. They headed into the barn and started to work on hauling the bags of sawdust off the truck when couple honks were heard.

Alice looked up and smiled. "My brothers, husband and sister are here."

Tamia followed Alice out of the barn to see three extremely handsome men walking towards them and a lovely woman. Alice turned to look at her. "Tamia, my brother Edward, my husband-to-be Jasper and my other brother Emmett and my sister Rosalie. Guys, this is our new neighbor Tamia. Mom and dad will be here later on."

Emmett looked around the land and smiled. "So, sis told us that you are on a tight schedule with your stuff not being ready for your horses."

"Yeah, but I could handle it myself really, Mr. Cullen . . ." Tamia stated.

"Please," Emmett interrupted her. "call me Emmett."

"Oh, my apologies . . . Emmett." Tamia replied, blushing with embarrassment of calling him Mr. Cullen. "I can basically handle it on my own . . . since my folks and older brother tend not to help out in moving the panels before."

"Self reliant, I like that." Edward stated as he looked towards the panels and started to walk towards the panels, he glanced over at her. "So where do you want them?"

Tamia turned to look at the handsome young man as he was striding towards the panels. "Uh, you don't have to do that. I can handle it all myself."

Alice looked at her and smiled. "But when you have this many people who want to help, it is good to take them up on it."

"Even if I try to prevent you from helping me . . . you'll do it any way right?" Alice nodded as did her siblings and future husband. "Very well, since I can't win. One of the panels can go by the first closed stall door, I'll have to figure out how to secure it there before we get moving on the rest." She headed over towards the panels with the others following her.

After lifting it up and holding it to the wall of the barn, Tamia marked it with a marker and headed into the barn to bring out a chisel and a hammer, to which she started to chisel away the wood. As soon as it was done, she pushed the metal band through the hole to the other side to which she placed the bar in place. "Okay, give a gentle push to see if it moves."

Emmett pushed against it and it held. "It's holding firm, Tamia."

Tamia came from the barn. "Good that will secure it all the way around."

Rosalie looked at the panels. "They seem easy for the horses to knock over."

"My horses don't seem to push it back home. They don't go against it, the wire fence that I have, yeah, they'll push against that." Tamia replied, as she lifted one end up and started to drag it when she felt it become lighter on her back. She glanced behind to see Jasper holding the other end up with both hands. He smiled at her as she returned his smile with one of her own.

It didn't take them too long before the twenty-three panels were moved into place and secured by the hooks or by wire. Tamia walked it at least couple times before she was satisfied with it. She glanced at her watch to see that it was only five in the afternoon and she was thirsty. She was about to turn on the hose to get some water when she realized that she had company and she was being a bad hostess. She held the hose up and looked at them. "If anyone's thirsty I can turn the hose on?"

"We're fine, Tamia, but thanks for offering." Edward replied, holding up a metal bottle and taking a sip from it.

"Okay," Tamia turned the hose on and coated her face in the spray while drinking from the stream.

Rosalie looked at the bags in the walkway. "The boys can handle the bags of sawdust while we can break into them to get them spread out in the stalls."

The three men nodded as they were able to haul the bags into the stalls faster and have the girls break into them to get the sawdust into the stalls and spread out. It took the men only five minutes to haul the sawdust into the stalls and they started to help spread them about.

Emmett being the tallest of them didn't see that Tamia was behind him till he took a step back and accidentally knocked her down hard. He turned and saw her flat on her back in the sawdust with her eyes closed. "Tamia! You okay?"

Tamia opened her eyes and sneezed. "Yes, I think."

Emmett reached down and helped her up to her feet while Rosalie glared at him before she started to brush off the sawdust that was on Tamia's pants. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you standing there. I usually am aware of my surroundings."

"Don't worry about it, Emmett. I'm not injured. I can handle a fall like that." Tamia replied, as she looked at him.

Edward and Jasper along with Alice glanced at each other before they walked over towards her, Alice had her phone out and was typing something into it. Rosalie looked at her. "Calling dad to come out here?"

"Yes, to have him examine Tamia. That was a pretty hard hit she took and I'm not taking no chances." Alice replied, closing the text part of her cell phone.

"I'm fine, I don't need a doctor, Alice." Tamia snapped.

"Tamia, your eyes?" Alice stated, pointing to them.

Tamia rushed to her truck's mirror and noticed that she had a problem. '_Shit!_' She opened her truck door and climbed in reaching for her purse to get her red drops to stain the whites of her eyes. Once she managed to do that, she stepped from her cab rubbing her eyes. She looked over at them and smiled. "Well, hopefully he can handle bloody eyes. My eyes just decided to pop some vessels."

Alice knew what she saw was not a bloody vessel but something else. She looked at her curiously wondering why was she covering up the look of a concussion with a blood vessel pop. She decided to watch her for any serious signs of trouble.

Jasper looked at the stalls and then to Tamia. "Stalls are all done. Need any help in the house?"

"I can handle that at a later date, Jasper. The barn is . . . well, was the most urgent thing needed done." Tamia replied, as they walked towards the house.

"Well, you do have three strong men who can lift sofas and chairs about along with tables." Emmett said. "And you could use the help as that way, you get everything done much faster."

Rosalie and Alice walked behind them as they headed towards the house was whispering to her. Both girls knew something was odd about their new neighbor and had to wait till dad came from the hospital to examine her and that would be a bit since he had to talk his way out if there is people in the waiting room which there shouldn't be.

Jasper walked next to Tamia. "So why did you move out there all alone?"

Tamia glanced over at him. "Pup, it is my business as to why I moved here to be alone."

Rosalie chuckled and said, "The pup is right, you could get yourself injured out there and with no one around,"

Emmett added, "You could call us if you did and we would be here as quick as possible."

"Good thinking, Emmett," Edward said, as he turned to look at her. "You do . . . of course, have a cell phone?"

"Yes," Tamia reached for her cell and held it up. "Hey, give that back!"

Edward snatched it fast, turned it on and started to pull up the contact lists. He started to add the numbers to her contact list. "Emmett's phone . . . got it, Alice's cell . . . got it. Rosalie's . . . mom's cell . . . dad's cell . . . Jasper's and of course my cell." He held the phone back to her when he snatched it away and dialed the numbers for a group call. Everyone's phone rang as they snatched it as Edward hung it up. "There now . . . everyone has your cell phone number on their cells'."

"Great!" Tamia moaned as she looked at them. "When you leave . . . I'll be deleting them."

"Don't." Edward growled. His voice sounded harsh as he glared at her. "It may be the best thing I did for you."

"Edward!" Alice snapped at him before turning to look at Tamia. "He's right, you don't have anyone here and if there's an accident . . . no one will know till its too late."

"I doubt that, I'm in contact with a lot of people during the day and night till I head off to bed." Tamia stated, as they walked onto the porch and went inside.

They stood in the living room and noticed that the van's movers didn't put the couches or the seats anywhere. Rosalie looked at her. "I guess they just came dropped them off and fled by the look of things."

"Yeah, they did as if they didn't like the house very much."

"Or more like where it is located at." Whispered Alice.

Tamia looked over at her before she looked at the couch that Emmett and Edward was looking at. "So I guess I best start moving it about."

"Just tell us and we'll move it for you." Emmett replied, as he looked at her.

"And while you are doing that, we'll put your kitchen items up." Alice and Rosalie said, as they headed off to the kitchen.

Jasper looked at Tamia as she tried to go towards the kitchen. "Um, Tamia, where do you want the couch at?"

Tamia turned and looked, she sighed and soon she started to direct them where to put the couch and soon she was busy telling them where to put things as she was unpacking things from the boxes that stated living room. Soon they were in the dining room unpacking that before Edward, Jasper and Emmett headed upstairs to do the six bedrooms that needed to be done. But they noticed that there was only one bed set up for one of the rooms. Emmett went to the top of the stairs and looked down. "Tamia, a word with you. Upstairs in the hallway, please?"

Tamia got up to the hallway. "Yes?"

"So where are the other beds for these five rooms?" Emmett asked, pointing to the rooms.

"Oh, I only had one bed to move so I didn't get anymore for the other five rooms. Though realistically, I should just incase my family decide to visit me, just to see how I am doing here."

Edward looked over at her, trying to figure her out, as she didn't look really concerned about getting more beds. "Well, you know your folks could come and visit. Then, what?"

"Then, I'll have to rush and get more beds." Tamia replied.

"Maybe you should go and get them now?" Jasper suggested.

"Well, it would make my account a bit tight." Tamia whispered to herself as she looked at the empty rooms.

"If you need some help purchasing them, I'm sure that our dad won't mind us using our money?" Edward offered.

"Oh, I couldn't take a loan from you, it would be a while before I could repay you." Tamia exclaimed.

"Not a loan, Tamia, you could say a house warming gift," Jasper said.

"Well, that would be a very large house warming gift, Jasper." She glanced over at him. He tilted his head to one side and then to another as he looked at her. "Anything wrong?"

"You wobbled on your feet. Are you sure you're okay?" He asked. "Alice did say you do have a possible concussion from the hit you took."

Tamia made a noise and turned away from them. "I'm fine," and she started to take a step when she felt a strong arm wrap about her waist and the next thing she felt was the ice cold body that was holding her as she was carried bridal style down the stairs. Jasper walking fast down the stairs yelling for Alice to get dad there now.

It was no more than ten minutes later, there was a sound of a car skidding to a stop there. Soon, the door opened and a 6ft 2 blond hair, slender male walked into the living room carrying a small medical bag.

"Great," moaned Tamia, as she looked away.

Jasper spoke, looking at Tamia as he did so. "Tamia Sanders, this is our father Carlisle Cullen, he's the doctor at the local hospital. Dad, she hit her head on the floor in the barn after being knocked down by Emmett . . . accidentally."

Carlisle looked at him and Emmett. "And you two didn't think about bringing her into the hospital? For shame, children, for shame."

"It's not their fault, Dr. Cullen, it is mine. I do not take too well to hospitals." Tamia informed him. "I will only go there if I am seriously injured like a broken bone or dying."

"Ah. Please call me Carlisle, Tamia." Carlisle stated, as he started to examine her eyes. He glanced over at Edward and then back to shining the light once again in her eyes. After an exam of the back of her head, he leaned back. "You have a mild concussion, Tamia. I am going to have to recommend you going to the hospital for an overnight stay."

"No way, I'll run away before I step in there." Tamia snapped.

Carlisle was just about to make a comment about that when Alice stepped up. "Would a friend be better to stay with you?"

Carlisle nodded. "One of my children will stay with you, then."

Tamia sighed, for she knew that if she said no, they would insist on it and push and if push came to shove she could possibly do something that she'll regret. "I don't really need anyone to watch out for me. Edward did put your phone numbers in my cell and if I do feel like I need help, I'll ring."

"Not good enough," Carlisle stated. "It is either you stay here or . . . you come home with us."

"No, I will not go anywhere." Tamia growled off.

Jasper looked down at her. He had a feeling she was pissed off about the suggestions. "Why don't you let Alice stay the night till tomorrow morning when dad can look you over again?" Alice nodded her head hoping that Tamia would let her stay. "That way, you can still stay here and be watched at the same time."

"Well, okay, as long as it is okay with Alice," Tamia replied, resigning herself to be watched for that night.

"Good, have you had anything to eat yet?" Carlisle asked, as he looked at her. Tamia shook her head and then replied that she ate about three hours ago. Carlisle turned to glance at Emmett who was standing watch over Tamia. "Is there any food in the house?"

"No, haven't really had the chance to go shopping yet." Tamia replied, as she sat up on the couch.

"Very well, I'll go to the store and get you some food to tide you over for a few days." Alice stated, as she pulled out a pen and some paper. "What food do you like?"

"A lot of food, Alice." Tamia smiled, as she told her what she liked to eat. "I probably need spices and herbs too in my cabinets since I didn't bring any from home."

Alice looked at Emmett and grabbed his arm. "Come on, brother, you're going to help me with this shopping expedition."

Emmett looked shocked but then the glance over at Carlisle, who nodded before he glanced away. "Okay, I'm coming."

Tamia started to rise up from the couch. "I'll come with you both."

Carlisle looked at her and spoke, voice very calm. "I would not recommend it. You need to rest and my children can handle it, Tamia." He gently pushed her back down to the couch.

Tamia growled. "Fine. I hate being treated like a child, Dr. Cullen."

"I'm sorry, but as your doctor . . . your health is my concern." Carlisle replied, as he turned his head to look out the window to see Alice's car speeding down the road. He sat down in the chair and pulled out some paperwork. "Now for the paperwork that needs to be done."

"Just bloody lovely." Tamia moaned, as she rolled her eyes.

Carlisle went through all the needed paperwork smoothly and without much effort on either part. Carlisle did let her get up and moved about the house only to the kitchen where she was intent on making sure that everything was put away. Edward and Jasper were close by as well as Carlisle in case she got wobbly again.

Tamia noticed the first thing was that the boxes were no longer on the floor and everything looked neatly put away. "Wow, you two are fast in unpacking." As she looked at Rosalie.

"Well, Alice did most of the unpacking. I hope we put everything in the right place." Rosalie stated, letting Tamia opening the drawers and the cabinets to be sure.

"Everything is where I would have probably placed them at." Tamia replied, looking at them as they stood around the island. She shook her head.

"Are you okay?" asked Edward. He started to move towards her.

"Yeah, I am but I'm being such a bad hostess again. I don't often entertain guests as a soloist." Tamia replied. "Can I get you some water . . . since that's all I have?"

Jasper smiled. "Tamia, we're fine. Don't worry about us."

"You sure?"

"Yes, get yourself some water. You need to keep yourself hydrated." Jasper replied, glancing over to his dad. "Right dad?"

"Yes, drink plenty of water. It will help with the lightheadedness." Carlisle said, glancing at his watch. "Esme should be home by now from her trip to town. I better ring her up and let her know where you kids are at, before she rips me a new one."

Jasper and Edward glanced at him. "That's a new quote you picked up on, dad."

"Yeah, the nurses at the hospital like using that when they're talking about their husbands," Carlisle said, as he flipped open his phone and dialed a number. He strode out of the kitchen to the back porch where he talked for several minutes before walking back in. "She'll drop in shortly. She just came home."

"Ah," Tamia whispered to herself. She tried to make herself busy in the kitchen double checking everything as she walked about.

Edward sat on the counter top by the sink. "So you don't entertain very often as a soloist?"

Tamia nodded her head. "I'm usually helping my mom host the clan's gatherings. I never did host alone and without anyone else to fall back on."

"Clan's . . . gatherings?" asked Rosalie, as she glanced over at the others before looking at her.

"Well, that's what we call them clan's gathering when all of my family gets together for a pool party at the house. My dad is notorious about his grilling and having a lively party." Tamia stated. Not knowing that there was another meaning to her words for the Cullen's.

"So this would be . . .?" asked Rosalie.

"My first time hosting anyone and in my very own home and I'm doing everything on my own and it is a bit scary."

"Well, you're not doing that badly," Jasper replied.

She looked over at him and smiled. "For my first time, I'm quite nervous and on top of that I have a mild concussion."

Rosalie smiled as she walked over to her, wrapping her arm around her and gently nudging her towards the chair that Edward had pulled from the table. "Now, just sit down and when my sister and hubby returns with your groceries, we'll put them away for you, Tamia."

"No, this is something that I should do myself, Rosalie." Tamia replied. She started to get a bit agitated by their care. She liked doing things on her own and not depend on others.

Jasper got up from his spot and tugged at his dad's coat. "Dad, a word is needed with you."

Carlisle nodded as they stepped from the room. He gave one glance back towards Tamia to see her face looking upset.

Tamia looked at them as the room went unerringly silent as she glanced towards the clock, which was still on Central Time zone. She stood up and walked over to the clock as she grabbed a chair to climb up to it. She felt icy hands on her calves, looked down to see golden eyes looking up at her. She nearly leapt off the chair when she saw his eyes. "Contacts?"

Edward quickly smiled and nodded. "Yes, contacts. I have green eyes naturally."

Tamia smiled. "And you don't like green eyes?"

"I do, I just like to spook the kids at school with my eyes." Edward replied, with a smirk on his lips.

Tamia laughed out loud. "I bet that makes the girls go gaga over you." As she turned back to the clock to change the time. But then, she stopped. "Edward, do you know the time? I'm at least two hours and who knows how many minutes ahead right now."

"It's 4:35PM," Another voice was heard. Tamia and Edward turned to see Carlisle standing there with his pocket watch out looking at it.

"Thank you, Dr. Cullen." Tamia replied, smiling towards him before she turned back to the clock and changed the time.

"You didn't change it when you took it down from your wall?" asked Edward, assisting her down from the chair.

"No, all I did was remove the battery." Tamia replied, as she looked at him.

Edward smiled as he shook head. "The girls probably didn't even think about changing it to the proper time here."

"Probably." Carlisle replied. "They should be back soon."

They sat there just making some small talk when Tamia got off the stool and headed for the kitchen door to step out as they noticed that there was no car pulling up but then a few seconds later, a silver Volvo pulled into view.

Jasper asked, a bit shocked. "How did you hear them coming?"

Tamia ignored the comment as she walked towards the car. "Sweet! Who's car is this?" As she gazed at it.

"It's mine, Tamia. It was my 16th birthday present from dad." Edward said, as he walked over and looked at Alice who stepped from the driver's seat. "You were careful with my car, sis?"

"Of course, I was. I kept it in the speed limit." Alice glanced at Edward as she headed for the trunk to get the bags. "I got everything that Tamia could use and more."

Emmett started to pull out the plastic bags filled with food from the trunk as Edward, Jasper and Tamia started to take the bags into the kitchen. Once there, Carlisle told Tamia to start unpacking the bags, they'll bring them in. Tamia got to unpacking the groceries, she noticed that Alice had bought carrots. She smiled as she knew who they were for – the horses. She placed them by the door as she started to unpack everything. She smiled at the sight of the hamburger. "Now that I can enjoy in the state it is in right now. Now, for one other ingredient required for it." Tamia started to search for the salt container. "Well, that will hold off till I get some."

"Get some of what?" asked Emmett, as he brought in another three bags.

"Kosher salt, I don't have any here." Tamia replied, as she looked at the containers, which should have had her spices in it to find nothing within them. She picked up the hamburger meat and placed it in the fridge.

Alice pulled out all the herbs and spices that they had bought much to Tamia's joy. As she started to put them away in the spice cabinet and got everything in it's place.

Carlisle looked at his watch and then to the boys. "Children, I think it is best to head home and get your homework done for the night."

"But dad!" Jasper whined.

"Jasper," Carlisle eyed him strongly. "School work before visiting here again, I'm sure that Alice and Tamia can handle the rest of the groceries themselves."

"Very well," Jasper replied, as Edward and Emmett nudged their brother out of the kitchen and towards Edward's car. They pulled out Alice's school bag and gave it to her. They promised to be there tomorrow morning to pick her up for school. With a wave, they left and a few minutes later, Carlisle left as well, leaving Alice and Tamia standing on the porch watching them leave.

"School?" asked Tamia.

"College actually for three of us . . . last year of high school for two of them." Alice replied.

**The next chapter will come soon.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Here is Chapter Three of this story.  
Please read and review as that will bring the next chapter up faster._

**Chapter Three**.

"So I guess you better go back to lying down on the couch. I'll finish up putting the groceries." Alice stated, as they started to head for the kitchen again.

"We don't have much to put away and it is about time for me to have another meal. Are you hungry?" asked Tamia, as she looked over at her.

"Nope, you go ahead and eat." Alice said, as she pulled out her homework and got down to work on it while watching Tamia cut up some vegetables and some meat to sauté in a pan. "So why did you really move out here?"

"To get away from my family before I did something that I would regret." Tamia replied.

"So what was it?" Alice looked up from her books. She looked at Tamia and wondered why she was not able to see her future for some odd reason.

"Just some tension in the house." Tamia started to look at the spices and picked some pepper and some salt to put into the veggies before she grabbed the olive oil to drizzle over the veggies.

"Between you and your mom?"

"Not really between her and me . . . it was more between my older brother and myself."

"So you and your mom got along?" Tamia nodded, as she plated her meal and walked towards the table. "But why did you move out?"

"Conflict between my brother and me were to the point where I was very close to losing my temper and do something that I would later regret." Tamia stated.

"So you figured to move far away to get away from it?" Alice asked.

"Yes, my mom expected me to just move a few miles away but not this far." Tamia smiled and then started to chuckle. "When mom heard how far I was planning, oh, the fit she threw was huge! All she wanted me to do was back down like I did all the other times that I tried to do this."

"You tried to move out before?" Alice was a bit shocked by that.

"Yes, but mom threw her fit and threatened the lives of my two horses if I dared to move away and at that time I didn't have the funds like I do now to break free. I had to back down that time around." Tamia said between bites.

"Sounds like your mother didn't really want you to leave," Alice said. She stopped working on her homework as she looked at her.

"Yeah, but when it came to my job . . . she had no bloody ass problems with that and my job is as dangerous as any cops if not worse." Tamia replied.

"I guess she knows where you are at, she has no problem but when you don't come home . . . that's the problem." Alice said. "So what kind of job was it?"

"Well, police but at times, I was a bodyguard for those who needed it and could pay my fee." Tamia replied. "I am efficient when I'm in bodyguard mode."

Alice was about to say something but she glanced towards the road and stood up from the chair as she headed for the door. "My mom Esme is here."

"Oh? I didn't hear a car pull up." Tamia asked, as she got up and followed Alice out of the door, just in time to see a really nice car coming up the road. "Oh, wow. Your family must have some money."

"Well, considering my dad is a doctor. He gets paid the big bucks." Alice replied, smiling at her.

Esme pulled up in her car and climbed out. She approached Tamia with a smile on her face and her hand out for her to shake. "Ms. Sanders, I'm Esme Cullen."

"Mrs. Cullen, please call me Tamia," Tamia asked, as she shook the woman's hand. She diverted her eyes to glance at her hand before looking away.

"My apologies. When Carlisle called and told me that we had a new neighbor . . . I rushed home to make some cookies . . . I hope you like them. They were Edward's former girlfriend's favorites and one of my favorites to make." Esme replied, as she bent down into her car and pulled out a plate of freshly made chocolate chip cookies.

"Oh wow, thank you very much for the offer." Tamia said, accepting the cookies from her. "Please come in or are you in a rush to get home to make dinner for the family?"

"Oh we eat when we get hungry." Esme stated.

"Ah, come in." Tamia said, as they headed into her kitchen where Alice quickly got back to her homework. Before Tamia closed the door, she glanced up at the cloudy sky before she placed the cookies on the counter and offered Mrs. Cullen a chair.

"Mom, did you know Tamia is a bodyguard?" Alice asked.

"I didn't know that." Esme said, as she looked over at her. "Is that why you moved out here because of a job?"

"No, I decided to move out of my family home before I did something to another that I would regret and getting a job here in Forks, Washington seemed the best idea." Tamia replied, as she poured herself some skim milk and started to munch on a cookie.

"So how do you like the town?" Esme asked, as she sat down next to her daughter.

"Well, this is my third day here, my first day officially here as a resident. So far Captain Swan and the waitresses at the local diner seemed to be friendly. The folks at the feed store could use a hot pack to be much warmer towards newcomers, but hey, I had expected that of some of the townsfolk." Tamia replied.

"So you spent some time here before then?" asked Esme.

"Yes, when I was searching for a place to keep my two horses at and also be away from others. My mom doesn't understand my desire to live like a hermit, when I'm somewhat sociable." Tamia stated, as she picked up another cookie to eat.

"Hermit?"

"Yeah, I like my privacy and yet I like to visit with others but I tend not to do that very often. People find me strange when I have to end a visit like within five minutes of me being there."

"Because of your job as a bodyguard?" Alice asked.

"Well, yes. I get calls at the most ill time possible but I do my best when I'm irritated and they seem to know when I'm doing something." Tamia replied. A light ring was heard. "And speak of the devil himself, they are calling. Excuse me." Tamia hurried outside of the house answering the call.

Esme and Alice listened to Tamia speak in a foreign tongue, which they both knew. They wondered how she knew that tongue.

"Well, this time I'm not going to be rushing out of here." Tamia stated as she walked back in.

"Why?" Esme asked.

"I told them I have a mild concussion and can't work for a few days. They're going to look to another bodyguard for the job now." Tamia replied. She had hoped that they didn't understand the language that she spoke as it would probably be easy to cover.

"So it was an Italian millionaire who wanted you?" Alice asked.

"Yes, they are by far my biggest clients. I have at least twenty millionaires that I protect when they go anywhere in the world. But this time, I'm out." Tamia stated, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

Esme smiled as she stood up and walked over to her, looking at her gently all the while nudging her towards the living room. "Maybe you should go rest?"

Tamia looked up at the motherly woman and smiled. "I should. Dr. Cullen would have my hide if I didn't,"

"Oh, my husband would just encourage you to rest and keep on doing so till you followed his orders." Esme replied, with a gentle smile on her face.

Tamia picked up her glass of milk and finished it before she washed it in the sink and dried it before she placed it back up in the cabinet. She walked towards the living room where she saw Esme standing there looking at the photos on the wall. "Those are of my folks along with my older and younger brother."

Esme noticed that other photos just showed the older brother, Tamia and their folks. "Where's the younger brother?"

"Gone." Tamia turned away from them both but the tone in her voice said it all.

Esme walked over to her and wrapped her arm around her. "How did he go?"

"Car accident . . . but that's the cover we told everyone, he actually threw himself out of his car while it was going 50 MPH. He sustained fatal wounds, to which there was no recovery from."

Alice looked at her. "Why did he do something like that?"

"Broken heart. His fiancée dumped him and that sent him over the edge to do what he did." Tamia replied. "After his passing, I got tougher into my jobs, got a lot more successful and folks started to see me as the top of the best bodyguards out there. My rates were raised and my clientele grew bigger."

"You were not successful before his passing?" Alice asked.

"Oh I was, I just didn't take that many clients. I went into overwork mode, which proved to be very financially beneficial to me in the long end of things." Tamia replied.

"So you are well off then?" Alice asked.

"I don't really need the dispatcher job for the police station here, that's for sure." Tamia smiled.

"But you are doing it to keep up an appearance in town as a normal citizen?" Esme asked gently.

"Correct, my occasional visits to town will spark interest in me by the townsfolk and that's how bad rumors start up." Tamia replied. "I'm sure that by now the rumor mill is going rampant with my appearance at the diner with Captain Swan already."

"Oh?" Esme asked. Her interest was perked by that comment. "What did he do?"

Tamia smiled. "He bought my lunch and was very attentive to me while I was with him. He never looked away except to introduce someone to me."

Alice squealed as she hopped on her feet. "Sounds like he likes you already!"

Tamia smiled as red tinted her cheeks. "Who knows, but I'm not really interested in dating anyone right now."

Alice looked seriously at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, besides in my line of work, having no relationships with anyone is the best." Tamia stated as she sat down with her fingers to the bridge of her nose.

"Maybe you should head for your bed and get some sleep?" Esme suggested sweetly.

Tamia looked over at them both and realized that she did need to sleep as it would help the pounding in her head. "I think that is a good idea." As she headed for the stairs and climbed them to get to her bedroom.

Alice waited for about an hour before she went up to Tamia's room to check on how she was doing to find that she was sound asleep under several blankets, the top one was a hot pink furry blanket, which Alice liked a good deal. '_I wonder where she got it from, as I would like that in my room._'

Alice went back to the ground floor to see Esme looking at the sofa and the chairs. "She had the boys move them about, mom."

"Ah, so they were helpful?"

"Yes, even Edward." Alice stated. She glanced up the stairs before looking at her mom. "I think he likes her."

"Hopefully, not to eat."

"I don't think it is that way, mom. I think he found someone who could be just as moody as he can be." Alice replied with a smile on her face.

"You saw what their future could hold?" Esme asked. Alice nodded excitedly. "Alice, do not tell either of them about that. Edward just got over '_Bella_'. I doubt he's interested in starting up another relationship with another human."

"Maybe one day, besides, she's not some 16 year bitch who cheated on a very good man, mom. Besides, how do you think Carlisle would feel if you cheated on him, pretty put off by the betrayal, mom?" Alice said.

"You know I would never cheat on Carlisle, I love him dearly." Esme replied.

"I know that mom." Alice said.

They talked till the night started to show in the house but they didn't touch the lights that was within the living room.

"Mom, you better go on home, I'll be fine here."

Esme nodded and kissed her forehead like she normally would before walking out of the house leaving her with a warning about what she saw.

Alice watched as her mom's car's headlights fade away in the darkness of the night. She had turned on some lights in the living room and sat down in the chair reading one of the books she saw on the book case.

Soon, she was finished reading that book and picked up another. Till she had to go check on her again and then resumed her book reading till about 10pm at night when Tamia woke up and they spent the next two hours talking before Alice made sure that she would go back to sleep till morning.

_Stay tuned, the next chapter could be coming shortly._


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's note: Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it._

**Chapter Four**.

The next morning, Alice heard the sounds of tires pulling onto the road leading to the house. She got up and looked at the road waiting to see who it was. She saw two beams of light coming towards the house as she could see Edward and then Carlisle's cars pulling up. She stepped from the house smiling. "She's still asleep, I think as I had checked on her about ten minutes ago, dad."

Carlisle nodded as they headed into the house. Edward staying downstairs tapping his foot as he waited for word that Tamia was cleared to have no more watchers for the day. He quickly rushed outside and listened to the wind blow. He smiled as he walked back inside as he knew who was coming.

Carlisle was sitting next to Tamia, who was still asleep. Needless to say, Carlisle could sneak up on anyone if he wanted to. He looked up at Edward as he entered the room. "Yes?"

"She should get up real soon. Her horses will be arriving here soon." Edward whispered softly.

"Are they coming up the drive?" Carlisle asked, looking up from the bed.

"Not yet, they're about two towns away right now." Edward stated. He looked a bit at odd with what he heard.

"I see by your look you are not pleased by something." Carlisle whispered, looking at him.

"They're not happy."

"And why would that be?"

"They're very angry at the gelding. He didn't want to get caught this morning at 4am and it took them an hour to catch him and then another ten minutes to load him. The mare was easy to catch and load." Edward replied.

Carlisle shook his head. "They must have tried to do something to him to make him so spooked not to go to them, usually horses are friendly towards humans."

"Probably. She'll need to get up soon." Edward whispered as he left her room.

Carlisle gently placed his hand against Tamia's cheek and whispered softly. "Tamia, wake up, its time for you to wake up."

It was a sudden wake up for Tamia when she felt the cold brush against her cheek. Her hands went right into a fist and she looked for who woke her in such a way for they deserved a punch in the face. But upon seeing Carlisle's face looking at her, she loosened up. "Where's Alice?"

"She's downstairs getting ready for school. It's about 6:30 in the morning, Tamia." Carlisle spoke, with a soft smile on his lips.

"Ah, my horses should be getting here soon, if it is morning already." She started to climb out of the bed.

Carlisle quickly headed for the door. "I'll be downstairs." And without another glance behind, he hurried from the room.

About half an hour later, Tamia came downstairs dressed in a long sleeve shirt and long pants. She was pulling her dried hair into a ponytail. "That feels better."

Edward walked over and led her to the dining room where a plate of food was waiting for her. "Alice made you breakfast. Now hurry up and eat, your horses should be here in another half hour or so."

Tamia glared at him. "I would rather eat in private, if you don't mind." As she grabbed her plate and her fork.

Edward glared at her as he stepped towards her. Jasper felt her anger and was mildly surprised by her emotions he felt. "Edward, let her go."

"But why, she should be able to eat here." Edward replied.

"You want to know why I do not like eating in front of people, Edward?" Tamia snarled.

"Yes,"

"I'll show you and Carlisle will be pissed about it." Tamia placed her plate down and within one minute the scrambled eggs and toast was history. "Now, do you see why I do not eat in front of people, Edward?"

Carlisle's face was only mildly upset. "You bolt your food down?"

"Yes, ever since I was 14 years of age. I was forced into eating that way by my mom's boyfriend."

"Why?" Emmett asked, shocked.

"I didn't eat my entire plate of food and the thing was he placed more food on it than I could realistically could finish in fifteen minutes. He treated us all like we were adults when it came to meals as giving us adult size servings, but other times as children."

"Didn't your mother serve you meals herself?" asked Rosalie. She was shocked that Tamia's mother didn't do anything.

Tamia shook her head. "She was at work. She was the only one who worked steady. '_He_' didn't work so he was dealing with every thing at home. But he was not what you would think as a good person he wasn't."

"Was he hard on you and your siblings?" asked Jasper. He could feel the hate radiate off of her.

"Extremely hard, he was a monster and a slave driver. He made us do everything from cleaning the house to everything else each day, while he sat around not doing anything, unless he had to fix one of the three vehicles he had at the house. I never really ate very good in my youth and he knew that I was not always very hungry." Tamia replied.

"So why would he make you bolt your food down?" Carlisle asked.

"He gave me a time limit to finish my meal or he would force feed me."

"And did you tell your mom about that?" Alice asked.

"Nope, she never asked and we learned to keep our mouths shut about it."

"Why didn't you?" Emmett asked. He didn't like what he was hearing.

Tamia's jaw moved back and forth like she was grinding her teeth. That was when Carlisle stepped between Emmett and Tamia. "Emmett . . . back down. Tamia, you do not have to say anything. That is information you should keep to yourself unless you wish to tell us?"

"I would rather not say what happened, Dr. Cullen." Tamia turned to the plate and took it to the kitchen to clean it.

Carlisle glared at Emmett before looking at Edward who whispered several words very silently. Everyone was shocked by what Edward had said about what he learned from her stance and on top of things he told them, he couldn't really hear her mind clearly, it was muddled.

By the time Tamia got back to the living room, the Cullens were standing outside watching the clouds hide the sun from view. Tamia glanced up at the cloudy sky. "That is a good thing."

Esme looked at her. "Why is that?"

"I don't like the sun very much. I tend to burn when I'm in the sun." Tamia replied.

Rosalie smiled as she looked at her skin. "Well, you do have pale skin,"

"Rosalie, I burn if I am in the sun for only fifteen minutes . . . even with a cloudy sky like this." Tamia stated hand waving towards the cloudy sky. "And my mom don't know why I am such a night owl."

"You . . . a night owl?" laughed Jasper.

"Yes, I'm a night owl, how would you like to find that out one night?" Tamia asked, with a slight growl to her voice.

"You mean it?"

"If I didn't have Alice here last night, I would have gone to bed around 3 or 4am in the morning and got up at 7am, wide awake. There are nights when I barely sleep at all." Tamia replied, looking at him and then turned towards the road, smiling.

Jasper was just about to say something about his sleep habits, when Alice spoke, "They're here."

The next sound they heard was a horse's whinny and then suddenly two more were heard.

Emmett looked at Tamia. "How many horses do you really have? I thought I heard three whinnies?"

"You did. Theirs and my whinny." Tamia replied, looking at him and then whinnied loudly in front of them. "I do that with them a lot. Nicker at them. I may not know what I am saying but they seem to respond to it."

Jasper looked at her. "You are weird, Tamia."

"You don't know the half of it." Tamia smiled, as she stepped from the porch as the truck came fully into view of them. She waved at them as they pulled up.

"We need to be able to turn around to get out of here when we're done unloading them, Ms. Sanders." The man said.

"Sure, my neighbors can move their cars before that time." Tamia glanced behind her to see the slight nod coming from them as they started to head for their cars. "So how were they? No problems?"

The other man had climbed from the truck and started to walk towards the trailer. "The mare was fine. It was that gelding of yours that was the problem."

"You removed his halter from his head right?" Tamia asked.

"Yes, how did you know?" He asked looking at her shocked after opening the back door.

"He is head shy and will not let you catch him if he does not have his halter on. That is why I told you not to remove his halter." Tamia replied. "I have been working on that for years trying to get him to let me catch him without having him have his halter on his head all the time."

The man grunted as he walked into the van and brought out a bay mare. "Jasmin del padre. Bay, correct?"

Tamia looked at the mare and checked the right rear hoof to see the white spot above her hoof. "Correct, she can be placed in the first stall on your right. It is marked with her name, please."

He led the mare into the barn and removed her halter and closed the door placing the halter and the lead on the hook by the stall door. He walked out and entered the van and brought out another horse. "Adonis, red roan. Correct?"

Tamia examined the horse and looked at the forelock, pushed it aside to see the white star that he had and then checked his right front ankle for the small white streak of hairs running around the ankle. "Correct. I'll take him into his stall." And with that said, she took hold of his lead and led the gelding into the barn and into his stall.

She came out of the barn and walked to the two men. "Do I owe you anything more than what I had prepaid you?"

"Nope, that's it. Now, if you do not mind, we need to get moving, we have another horse to drop off in another part of the state soon." The man replied.

"Very well, drive carefully." Tamia said.

The Cullens and she watched as the horse van backed up and slowly headed back down the road again. Alice bounced over to her and with bright eyes, she asked, "Can we meet your horses?"

Tamia glanced at her watch and looked up at them. "Tonight, for now all of you are going to be late for college and work . . . Dr. Cullen."

Carlisle glanced at his pocket watch and saw that they were all running late. "Yes, you are correct. Children, you need to hurry. But stay to the speed limit now that you're late." As he looked at them rushing for their vehicles. "Kids, they just love to speed on the roads here."

"Well, what can you do? Kids have this unknown ability to get out of big trouble when it comes to speeding." Tamia replied, looking at Carlisle as the sounds of tires squealing as the Cullen kids sped off.

"Well, that is true." Carlisle said. "And I best head off too. Take care, Tamia." And with a smile, he headed for his car and drove off.

Tamia turned to the barn and headed to the feed stall to start feeding them. And after they finished their meals, Tamia allowed them to roam the paddock before she headed to the house to rest and to call her best friend in Florida.

"Hey sis. Yeah, I got my babies here and they're doing fine. Yeah, I love this place so far. I think I might have an admirer in the Chief of Police here. Yeah, shocking, I know. But as you know it is something that can not happen. Okay, I'll talk to you later. Love you, bye." Tamia closed her cell phone up and walked away from her porch towards the fence line where she started to check the fence itself to see how many fence posts and boards she needed to get to secure the fences before letting her horses out. She spent the next several hours in the woods making sure that she was able to fix everything or shrink the pasture down to a smaller size if she had to. By late afternoon, she emerged from the woods to see a car sitting in the driveway. As she approached the vehicle, a dark haired man stepped from the car. "Tamia, it's me, Captain Swan."

"Hi Charlie. I hope I didn't keep you waiting for long?" Tamia said, as she walked towards him.

"Nah, I just arrived." Charlie replied. "I decided to come visit you and see how everything is going along." He glanced over towards the barn to see two horses in the paddock grazing on some grass. "They arrived today or last night?"

"This morning actually, Charlie."

"Ah, they are accepting of the area?"

"They like being close to the barn for now. It will be a few days before they go a bit further in the pasture and plus I won't take them out on trail rides for a while longer."

"So what do you have in mind for tonight?" asked Charlie.

"I'm not doing much anything beyond getting a few things finalized." Tamia replied.

"Well, I could stay and help out?" Charlie offered.

"Well, I can handle it really, Charlie. It's nothing too big for me to do."

"So what do you have to do? Maybe I can help?" asked Charlie, as they walked up to the porch to sit on the steps.

"Well, you probably know of a good lumber yard."

"Why do you need lumber for?"

"Well, I have a pasture fence that needs repaired in the back before the horses can go out. And plus, I'm thinking about getting some raised beds for a vegetable garden." Tamia said, as she looked towards the barn.

"Have you figured out where these raised beds will be located at?" he asked.

"Not really. I'll probably figure it out later."

"So you will be a permanent resident here?" Charlie asked, with a smile on his face.

"For the time being. I may have to leave. I do have another job that may require me."

"Yes, the bodyguard duties for those Italian millionaires who come to visit the States."

"Yeah, them."

"How long do you stay with them?"

"About a week but sometimes it will be a month of my time."

"Who will look after your horses if that happens?"

"My sister Rhonda will come and tend to them after all she is a horse woman from Florida."

"Sister? I didn't know you had one." Charlie looked shocked at her.

"Well, she's not my sister by blood or adoption . . . I just consider her to be my sister-in-spirit."

"Ah, I see." Charlie glanced at his watch. "I better head home. See you on Tuesday, Tamia."

"Alright," Tamia watched as he got into his car and drove away. She went inside the house and grabbed the phone book and looked up the local lumber yard and called them up to find out when they closed.

Two hours later, Tamia was back with a trailer attached to her truck filled with lumber for her fence. She backed it up to the side of the barn and unhitched the trailer to move the truck back to where it would be at by the house.

She quickly went inside the house and made dinner for herself before she brought out her computer and started to spend her evening online talking to her friends. She decided to log into a chat room that her sister had recommended to her as it had some nice folks there.

_Stay tuned, the next one is coming._


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note**: _Here is chapter Five. Please leave me reviews on this story. Thanks!_

**Chapter Five.**

A figure sat at his computer desk typing away on his keyboard talking to his friends in the chat room when a new handle showed up. He smiled at the name. He quickly typed a greeting to the newcomer. "Welcome to our nightly chat, Night Owl."

"Thanks, Chicago Gentleman," Night Owl typed in.

"Everyone, Night Owl is my sister-in-spirit so behave around her." Typed in FL Horsewoman.

Everyone started to type in something bad about her being a slave driver and stuff like that. Even Night Owl typed in something too and then did a LOL.

Soon, the conversations moved from introductions to the newcomer and started to discuss the topic at hand, the uncontrolled behavior of kids these days compared to the 80's.

Night Owl: "Kids should have a strict understanding of how to behave in public from the moment that they are two years old on up to eighteen years of age."

Southern Gentleman: "Why, Night Owl?"

Night Owl: "Because you can forgive a two-year-old till they are about four-years-old for their behavior as they have short attention span and shouldn't be dragged out for an all day shopping adventure at the mall without some problems. A five-year-old to nine-year-old would by that time know how to behave like an adult in public, with minor outbursts."

FL Horsewoman: "Or in other words, minor temper tantrums?"

Night Owl: "Exactly. Children are supposed to be seen, not heard."

Sugar pixie: "But what caused the parents to drop what they had been taught by their parents?"

Night Owl: "From what I know this child expert went on TV stating that the parents should let their kids express their free will as punishing them only hurts their ego, which is a bunch of fucking baloney! Hurt their egos? For what, getting punished for what they did wrong? What a way to let the kids controls everything that the parents want to do without getting punished! The kids now rule the house and whatever the parents want to do outside of the house as in go to a restaurant. Their child ends up having the final say instead of the parents. Instead of telling the child that they are going to this restaurant and if they don't like it they can sit in the restaurant and be silent, they let them override their decision."

Sugar pixie: "But doesn't the parents be able to punish them for the scene?"

FL Horsewoman: "Nope! And whooping their butts in public will cause you to be arrested for child abuse now."

Night Owl: "That is one thing I want ousted from the minds of the public."

Sugar pixie: "Why?"

Night Owl: "Well, the child must have deserved the spanking and he was getting punished with a spanking. People are now going overboard in protecting the children and forgetting to let them learn how to behave like a proper child should and let them waste their excess energy that they have in their system by playing games that make them run around for about an hours time. They take away the games that would make them waste their energies like dodge ball, just _because the ball could hurt them_. If they really want to remove something that could hurt them seriously they should take away baseball and basketball."

FL Horsewoman: "Oh, that would outrage the parents if baseball and basketball were banned."

Chicago Gentleman: "Baseball is one of my family's favorite games to play. We would never let them take that away from us."

Night Owl: We're not fond of baseball but on occasion, we can do really well at it."

Tennessee man: "You play the game, Night Owl?"

Night Owl: "Yeah, but I'm not the best player with my family. I don't hit that hard."

Mr. Sweetheart: "My brothers can hit the ball really hard. But we love our game that we play. I think we would go into a blood lust if they banned baseball."

Night Owl: "Blood lust?"

Chicago Gentleman slaps Mr. Sweetheart. Tennessee man kicks Mr. Sweetheart. Southern woman glares at Mr. Sweetheart. Sugar pixie says no me time tonight.

FL Horsewoman: "Uh oh, looks like Mr. Sweetheart will be using his right hand tonight!"

Mr. Sweetheart slaps his head on the table: "I deserve that."

Night Owl: "You sure did. But truthfully, I hope if they do state that the school kids cannot play baseball anymore, the parents will rise up in protest."

FL Horsewoman: "Like they should have not done with them pulling dodge ball from the PE classes. That was a very good game, the balls were not overly hard like the basketball is and on top of that, you get to become very good at eye hand coordination which would be put to good use later on in life."

Night Owl: "But the kids complained that the popular kids would go after the unpopular ones with the balls and aim for the head instead of the lower body."

FL Horsewoman: "And the parents complained so much which got the school to remove dodge ball from the activities that their kids could play in gym class."

Southern woman: "That is inconsiderate of the parents to do that. Why would they do that?"

Night Owl: "Sis, you have nephews. Why would they do that?"

FL Horsewoman: "Because the popular kids targeting the unpopular ones to get hit first. When in fact it is the way the game is played, if you don't move fast enough . . . you will get hit and ousted from the game."

Sugar pixie: "That sounds like a good game to play. What type of ball do we use?"

FL Horsewoman: "It is a reddish ball about ten inches around and somewhat firm and yet soft. Let me see if I can find you a photo of a dodge ball."

FL Horsewoman goes into search mode.

Tennessee man: "Will she be back?"

Night Owl: "She will, she's hunting down a picture to show you, since it sounds like you didn't see a dodge ball before, Tennessee man."

Southern woman: "She got you there, Tennessee man."

FL Horsewoman returns from search mode.

FL Horsewoman: "I found it! Here it is: .com/store/product/sku=W4842/cmc=BRWSSPFBALDGE/grp=SPF/sbgrp=BAL/ln=DGE/sort=sales/va=1/ , that's a dodge ball."

Tennessee man looks at URL: "How does one play . . . dodge ball?"

FL Horsewoman: "You know the game better, sis, you tell them."

Night Owl looked shocked that she was asked.

Sugar pixie: "Please tell us how to play the game? It sounds like fun."

Chicago Gentleman: "Fun? Define fun, pixie?"

Sugar pixie: "Hey, it can be another game we can do with the family! I'm sure dad will enjoy it."

Mr. Sweetheart: "It would give us an excuse to play a game during one of the cloudy days."

Night Owl: "Cloudy days?"

Mr. Sweetheart: "Yeah, we happen to like cloudy days a lot. The temperature is cooler when the sun is not shining so brightly."

Night Owl: "That is true, the temp is cooler when the sun is not shining and plus I like the cloudiness of the day when it is cloudy. I can be outside instead of hiding away."

Tennessee man: "Why is that?"

Night Owl: "I tend to burn when I'm in the sun too much or for too long."

Tennessee man: "Oh, so will you tell us the rules of the game?"

Night Owl: "Sure, you need about ten players five on each side."

Mr. Sweetheart: "Dang, we only have seven family members."

Night Owl: "Oh then in that case three on each team and one can be referee."

Sugar pixie: "Anything else?"

Night Owl: "You cannot hit above the waist, if you do you are out. Anything below the waist is fair game and if you catch the ball, the thrower is out of the game till one is left standing who would be the winner of that round."

Chicago Gentleman: "How many rounds can you play, Night Owl?"

Night Owl: "Ten rounds. Each round is worth two points."

Chicago Gentleman: "I think I'll go buy the balls and I'll get my family involved in this."

Tennessee man: "Too late, bro. I did it. They should be here in two days."

Chicago Gentleman growled: "Be thankful that there are ladies here, Tennessee man or you be cussed out."

FL Horsewoman: "Oh go ahead and fucking cuss him out, Chicago, it's not like we heard it before!"

Night Owl: "You should see me and my older brother go at it. You would think two sailors were ripping into each other with the amount of cussing we do."

Sugar pixie: "So, Night Owl, what do you do during the day?"

Night Owl: "As of now, I'm one of two dispatchers for a police station here in Washington and on occasion a bodyguard."

Sugar pixie: "Gotta go! Bye!"

_Sugar pixie logged off_. _Mr. Sweetheart logged off_. _Tennessee man logged off_. _Southern woman logged off_.

Night Owl: "Did I say something that offended her?"

Chicago Gentleman: "No, she's like that a lot."

Night Owl: "Oh, I thought I said something wrong."

FL Horsewoman: "You didn't sis, she does this a lot. It must mean that her husband has won her over again and they're in bed making out. Which tells me I too best head off for bed. Night sis."

Night Owl: "Night sis. Talk to you later."

Chicago Gentleman: "Good night, Rhonda."

_FL Horsewoman logged off_

Chicago Gentleman: "Care to go private with me?"

Night Owl: "We are alone here."

Chicago Gentleman: "For the time being."

Night Owl: "If someone comes in, then we move to private."

Chicago Gentleman: "Fair enough. So what do you really do beyond being a dispatcher to the police in your city?"

Night Owl: "Beyond being that, I'm a bodyguard for some Italian millionaires who visit the states once every so often."

Chicago Gentleman: "Do they come often?"

Night Owl: "Maybe once every other month give or take a week."

Chicago Gentleman: "Will they be coming out?"

Night Owl: "Not sure, I had to call them off yesterday when they called."

Chicago Gentleman: "Why was that?"

Night Owl: "I got knocked down to the floor of my barn by one of my neighbor's son Emmett. Pure accident but it gave me a concussion."

Chicago Gentleman: "He did? Did you go to the hospital?"

Night Owl: "No, my friends' dad is a doctor and he came to my place and tended to me. Had one of his daughters stay the night with me."

Chicago Gentleman: "Why didn't you go to the hospital?"

Night Owl: "Me and hospitals do not mix. It raises questions about me."

Chicago Gentleman and Night Owl chatted for several more hours talking about everything and anything, till CG noticed the time on his clock.

Chicago Gentleman: "I hate to burst our time chatting but it is four in the morning. I kept you up."

Night Owl: "Nah, I usually go off to bed around this time to get up around seven in the morning. But I should really go to bed. Will you be on again?"

Chicago Gentleman: "Yes, I'll be on tonight. Good night and sleep well."

Night Owl: "I will. Night Chicago Gentleman."

_Night Owl logged off_.

_Chicago Gentleman logged off_. He shut down his computer and went to his window. He knew who Night Owl was but he knew she didn't know that was him. He had learned a bit more about her and she still intrigued him to want to learn more. He stepped from his room to see Jasper standing there in his red boxers.

"You found someone you like, don't you, Edward?" Jasper smirked.

"Yes and you remember what you said to Tamia?"

"What did I say to her?" asked Jasper.

"How you would like to see her stay up till four in the morning?"

"Yeah,"

"I just spent the night with her." Edward replied.

"YOU ARE JOKING!" Jasper yelled. Edward shook his head. "NO WAY!"

"I did but it was online. She has no idea that it is me that she chatted with almost all night long." Edward said. "And you brought my dad out of his room."

Jasper looked over to Carlisle who stood there with his night jacket on. "Sorry, Carlisle." He turned to Edward and shoved him back into his room. "Tell me everything."

For the next several minutes, Jasper stood there listening to what Edward spoke about. Jasper was surprised that Edward had actively chatted with another human like that. He wondered if Edward was now getting over Bella after three years of not being around her. "Edward, does this mean . . ?"

"Yeah, I've been over her for years. I'm just moving on with my life. She has with Jacob." Edward replied, as he sat down on his couch.

"Going to start dating Tamia?" Jasper asked.

"Not sure as of yet. I'm going to take it slow."

"Don't take it too slow, Edward. She's human, remember." Jasper said, as he walked out of Edward's room back to his own. He looked at Alice lying in bed. "Edward is possibly back being in love with another human."

Alice closed her eyes and then opened them. "That is possible but even I cannot tell."

"I hope he finds the one soon." Jasper replied, as he sat down on the bed looking towards the window.

Esme sat up further as Carlisle stepped back into the room. "What was that all about?"

"Looks like Edward found someone of interest." Carlisle stated, as he walked back to the bed and sat down picking up the medical journal that he was reading.

"That's good to know. He deserves some serious happiness." Esme replied. "With how Bella betrayed him like that with Jacob Black."

"If it wasn't due to the treaty, I think Edward probably would have gone onto their lands and rip his head off and probably kill Bella at the same time." Carlisle glanced at the door then back to his book.

"He held himself back, that is a good thing right?" Esme asked.

"Yes. Jacob Black probably expected a fight coming from him over her." Carlisle stated.

"But Edward walked away leaving them both stunned. Bella tried to get him to return but he refused her calls and her attempts at getting back into his life."

"He basically told her in no certain terms that she was no longer welcomed to call him or visit her. But when he looked at Jacob, he told him that he could have her but be aware that she may end up cheating on him as well and walked away from them both without a look back. I think Jacob knew how close he was to being killed by my son, I think he realized that Edward was abiding by the treaty." Carlisle replied.

"And after a month, Jacob got her to drop her obsession with Edward when he took her away on that camping trip and told her to drop it."

"And whatever he told her, it worked as she stopped trying to come here and call him." Carlisle said, as he looked over at her.

"Yes, a very good thing. If she kept coming . . . I think Edward would have returned to Alaska to stay till she outgrew her attraction to him." Esme informed him. "But I think I know who he is involved with. She could be good for him."

Carlisle looked over at her as he pulled off his reading glass. "It is not our place to pry into his private life nor try to force him to hook up with a vampire or otherwise."

"Well, she's human, Carlisle." Esme replied. "He's vampire."

Carlisle glanced over at her. "Unless he asks her to become like us . . . that is."

Esme just looked shocked at her mate, it was not something that he normally would suggest at all.

_Stay tuned, the next chapter is coming soon._


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note**: _Sorry, for the long wait for this chapter to come out. I got hung up with outside demands on my time.  
Please enjoy and review._

**Chapter Six.**

Tamia looked at the clock and knew her sister would be up. She dialed the number and waited for her sister's voice to come over the phone. "Sis, hey its me. Yeah, I know it's 4 in the morning here but I have to tell you this. Yeah, I had a good time last night. They were cool folks, but after you and everyone else left. Chicago Gentleman and I chatted till a few minutes ago. Yeah! I know! I was shocked that time flew so fast for us. No, nothing is going on with us. I just bloody heck chatted with him. Not so fast, sis. I'm not interested in meeting no guy. You know my job could call me away at a moment's notice. You will be able to hop on a plane and come out here if I need you right? Good, I don't want to put my horses onto my neighbors' kids while I'm gone. Yeah, I got to go, I got fences to fix and stuff like that. Okay, love you sis. Bye."

Tamia headed for her bed after putting her cell phone up. She knew it would not be too long before she awakens for the day. She knew she had a long day ahead of her.

* * *

Three hours later, she woke up to the sounds of the doorbell ringing. She pulled on her robe and hurried down the stairs to see Alice and her boyfriend standing at the door. Jasper was the one who looked apologetic at her. "Alice, Jasper?"

Alice looked at her and then to her watch. "We came at a bad time right?"

Jasper spoke, "We'll see you later on today, Tamia." He pulled Alice away. "I told you she was asleep, you woke her!" He chided her as they moved away.

"It's okay, you two. You actually did a good thing." Tamia stated, grabbing for Jasper's coat.

Jasper glanced back. "We did?" He was shocked about that.

"Yeah, if you didn't wake me when you did, I probably would have slept the day away and I have fences to fix." Tamia replied. "Have you two had breakfast yet? I can whip up some pancakes fast."

Alice smiled. "We already ate before we came over."

As they walked into her home. Jasper glanced at Tamia. "Did you sleep restless last night?"

Tamia shook her head. "No, just pulled a late night with an on-line friend that I met last night. Didn't even get to bed till 4:15 in the morning."

"Late night?" asked Jasper, as they headed to her kitchen.

"Yes, I usually plan my late nights to coincide with the days I know I'd have problems sleeping at night." Tamia got her pan that she was going to use for the pancakes on the stove before she started to pull out the needed ingredients for the pancake batter.

"You plan the nights?" asked Alice, as she opened the fridge and got out the eggs and the milk as she placed them on the counter next to the mixing bowl.

"Yeah or I would be trying to figure out what to do during the nights." Tamia replied as she started to get the batter prepared.

"You could always . . . ow, Alice!" Jasper glared at her before closing his mouth.

"I've tried over the counter sleep aids on those nights, Jasper. They don't work." Tamia said, as she walked over to the pantry and grabbed the mini semi-sweet chocolate chips and the mini-marshmallows. She placed them by the batter before getting out a measuring cup for them both.

"What are you making?" Alice asked.

"It's one of my favorite pancakes that I make, the S'Mores pancake. I might make some for the station when I go in on Tuesday to start my time as the dispatcher." Tamia replied, as she pulled out her recipe book to get to the recipe for the batter. She looked at Alice who seemed very interested in the recipe. "Want to help me with it?"

Alice smiled. "I'd love to. What is first?"

Tamia couldn't help but to smile. "We need 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 5 tsp baking powder, 2 eggs, 1 1/2 cups milk, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter mixed in a bowl. Whisk for ten turns of the whisk."

Alice started to count how many times she whisked the batter before stopping and looking at the lumpy batter. "Tamia, it's still lumpy?"

"I know, it will not be when everything is ready to be put on the griddle." Tamia stated as she opened the bags which held the mini-chocolate chips and the mini-marshmallows.

Jasper looked at the graham crackers. "How do you want them crushed?"

"Coarsely, Jasper." Tamia said, as she measured out the mini-marshmallows and the mini-chocolate chips.

Jasper placed ten graham crackers in a bag and started to crush them with his hands till they were coarsely broken apart. He opened the bag and scanned it to see that it was coarsely crushed. "They're ready for you, Tamia."

She looked over at the wild haired teen and smiled when she saw how the crackers looked. "Thank you," She took the bag and took out couple of small handfuls and dropped them into the batter before folding them into it.

"How does it taste, Tamia?" asked Jasper.

"The batter tastes not that good but after it is cooked, it is yummy." She replied, as she poured a half cup onto the griddle and waited till the bubbles stopped forming before flipping it over.

Within thirty minutes, there was a nice stack of S'Mores pancakes on a plate and the bowl that the batter was in was empty.

Jasper and Alice sat at the kitchen table talking to her while she ate. Jasper noticed that she was not bolting the food down like she did the other day. "Why are you not bolting your food down?"

"I'm trying to break that, Jasper. There are some foods that I can bolt down fast without problems. Pancakes are not one of the foods that I can bolt down easy." Tamia replied, before she took a piece into her mouth and started to chew it.

Alice smiled. "Dad will be pleased by that."

"Tell me about it. My own doctor back home razzes me about it. They say that I should eat slower." Tamia replied, as she put another bite into her mouth.

"So the fence? What are you doing with it?" Jasper asked.

Tamia explained what she had to do to the back fence to get it repaired and all. Jasper seemed to be okay with what she had to do, as Alice was.

"So you do a lot of the work yourself?" Alice asked.

"Yes, but now since I'm the only one here. I cannot rely on anyone but myself to help with that and don't ask. I can handle it myself, thank you. You done so much already." Tamia replied, before turning her attention back to the pancakes and finishing off the stack that she made.

"But are you sure?" Jasper said. "I would love to help out. I did do the fences around our property myself and I do know a thing or two about fences?"

"Please, Tamia, he is really good at it. And he knows a great deal about fences." Alice replied.

"Well, just this one time and I'm going to pay you for your time, Jasper." Tamia said.

"Tamia, I will refuse the money. I have plenty of it." Jasper stated, firmly.

"Well, you can donate the money to a charity that you like then." Tamia looked over at him.

"Okay, that I can do." Jasper nodded to Alice, who walked outside with her phone in hand.

Tamia looked at Jasper. "Okay, I have the map of my lands and where I'm planning on putting the fences at."

"Let's see where you can put the fence at." Jasper said, as he watched as she unrolled the geographic survey map of her property and the surrounding properties.

"That's the Cullens' property right there and this parts all mine." Tamia pointed out her lands.

Jasper looked at it carefully. "You have at least fifteen acres of land that is flat and a little bit of a hill that can be fenced in. It is going to be hard hauling lumber there. Especially in that area."

"I know, that's why I'm going to use my gelding for that." Tamia replied.

"And how will he drag the lumber?"

"By cart. I have a small wagon for one horse to haul things about."

"The gelding is Adonis or Jasmin?" asked Jasper.

"Adonis is the gelding, Jasmin is a mare, Jasper."

"Is Adonis trained to haul the wagon?"

"Yes,"

"Good, lets get going as the day is wasting away, even though we can work part of the night too. You have lanterns?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah, do you? If not, I brought some." Spoke a male voice. They turned to see Emmett standing at the door looking at them both.

"Hi Emmett," Tamia replied. "You hungry, I made some pancakes?"

"I ate already, Tamia, but thanks." Emmett replied. "So what are you two up to now?"

"Well, she and I are going to the back field to fix up some fences on her back property before she can let the horses go back there." Jasper stated.

"Well, do you need to have a vehicle to get back there." Emmett said.

"Already handled, Emmett. I'm using a cart and my gelding to haul the lumber to the back pasture." Tamia replied, as she headed for the door.

Alice, Emmett and Jasper followed her out but then their phones rang. Jasper moaned as he looked towards Tamia. "Tamia, we're going to have to bow out. Dad called us and he wants us home. Something came up and we have to go home right now."

"That's okay, Jasper. I can do this myself." Tamia looked over at them.

"I really wanted to help you out with the fence." Jasper stated.

"I know, but maybe whatever your dad needs done can be finished fast and you can meet me by the fence."

"I hope so." Jasper replied, as they headed off to their cars. Jasper watched as Tamia brought out Adonis from the paddock and was tying him to the paddock fence before he couldn't see her anymore by the speed in which Alice was driving at away from there.

* * *

Tamia pulled on the harness as Adonis stood there waiting patiently. It was not long before he was backed into the cart and attached. Tamia quickly started to load the cart with enough lumber to handle at least ten fences three boards up. She double-checked that she had the tools she needed to deal with the fences before she opened the gate that lead into the pasture. She and Adonis walked towards the back pasture. It was not long before she reached the spot to which she would start putting the fence up at. She could tell that there was a critter path near to where the fence would be. She hoped that they wouldn't damage it as she started to get everything out of the cart and got down to work after making sure that Adonis would be busy with the hay bag she brought with them.

It was close to dusk when Tamia finished getting all of the fences done with couple trips back to the barn to get another twenty lumbers to finish up the repairs. Tamia hoped that Jasper and Emmett would show up but they never did. She shrugged and finished up with the last of the repairs to the fence. It was now ready to have the horses run loose within it. She got into the cart and asked Adonis to head for home as the night started to show itself.

"Come on, Adonis back to home we go." Tamia started to get him moving, when she heard noises in the woods, like a growl of a wolf or a mountain loin. She reached for her gun but realized that she didn't have it with her. She knew that the area was not well known to her or to Adonis yet to risk having him run. She grabbed her cell phone and scanned the numbers to find Emmett's number. She pushed the dial number code and put her phone to her ear. She heard Emmett's voice on the other end, her voice showing her fear as she spoke. "Emmett, this is Tamia. I'm in the woods by my fence and there's either a wolf or a mountain lion out here and I have no weapons on me. I'm scared, Emmett. Emmett? EMMETT!" She stared at the phone and put it back up to her ear to hear a woman's voice on the other end. "Rosalie? I'm scared, Rosalie. Okay, I'm on the move with Adonis towards the barn right now. I can still hear the animal movements behind me. Okay, they should be coming my way."

Tamia hung up the phone with Rosalie and coaxed Adonis to keep moving towards the barn hoping whatever was stalking her in the night would vanish. She kept glancing behind her hoping that the sounds she heard was not following her. She noticed lights moving in the distance and voices yelling out her name. She encouraged Adonis to trot towards the voices as they got closer and closer to her. She saw Emmett and Edward in the lead as well as Dr. Cullen slightly behind them with Jasper by his side. Emmett moved past her with Jasper behind him. Edward climbed into the cart next to Tamia.

"You okay?" Edward asked.

"Now I am, Edward. The sounds were right behind us."

"How far?" asked Carlisle.

"I'm not sure but they sounded very close." Tamia pointed towards the far fence.

Carlisle looked over at Emmett and nodded as Emmett hurried off to find what the critters were. "Emmett and Jasper will see what's trying to stalk you back there."

Jasper smiled and was just about to move off when he stopped and looked at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't call you back this morning to let you know we got seriously tied up with stuff at home, Tamia."

"That's okay. I got it all done any way." Tamia replied. As Carlisle climbed onto the cart watching the forest as Edward took the seat next to Tamia.

Carlisle placed his hand on Tamia's shoulder. "Head for the barn, they'll come when they found out what was back there."

Tamia nodded as she picked up the reins with shaky hands. Carlisle took hold of her hand and took the reins from her and lightly tapped the back of Adonis with them and clicked to him. Adonis started to move forth as Edward and Carlisle switched places.

"It's going to be okay, Tamia." Edward spoke, as he stood behind her.

It was not too long before they started to see the headlights of their cars. Three forms were seen standing in the lights.

Esme came towards the gate as Adonis and the cart came though and stopped by the barn. "Tamia, are you okay?"

"Yes, I probably got scared for nothing." Tamia said, as she hopped off the cart and started to attend to Adonis.

"I don't think so." Emmett stated, as he walked into view. "Jasper and I both checked where she heard the sound and there was wolf tracks . . . freshly made ones too."

Tamia placed her head against Adonis's neck and moaned. Jasper looked over at her. "You didn't expect wolves?"

"I didn't expect that. Back in Missouri, we had to contend with foxes and coyotes, not wolves." Tamia glanced over at him before returning to finish unharnessing Adonis from the cart.

Emmett went to Carlisle's side and they talked in low whispered voices before Jasper came over and gave what he saw. They glanced over to Tamia and started to whisper again.

Tamia finally got all the harness off of Adonis's back and with the help from Alice got the harness in the tack stall and Adonis in his stall with grain in the manger. They walked out of the barn together to see Carlisle standing with a concerned look on his face. "What's wrong, Carlisle?"

"Emmett told me that he saw several prints of wolves where you had thought you heard them at and most of them were very fresh and looked like they were coming towards your location at the fence." Carlisle stated.

"If I didn't leave when I did, I probably would have been attacked by them?" asked Tamia.

"Maybe and maybe not. The wolves around here don't seem to attack humans. I would keep the horses close to home till the wolves move through." Carlisle suggested.

Emmett smiled. "I'll start patrolling the area around our property and yours till we chase those wolves out of the area, may take a few days."

"I could go with you and bring my rifle?" Tamia asked.

"No, you need to stay close to your horses as the wolves may come to the barn and you would be better off here than off with me in the woods tracking the wolves and coming up with nothing." Emmett replied.

"And most likely, the wolves would have your horses for dinner." Edward said.

"And then all wolves in the area would be slaughtered by me, if that happened." Tamia stated. They looked at her a bit surprised that she would say something like that. "Or trap them in a live cage to be transported elsewhere."

"That would be a good idea, Tamia." Carlisle stated. He knew he needed to get word to the leader of the wolves for a face to face meeting. He was going to demand the reasons why the wolves were stalking their neighbor. "We'll head for home. Emmett, can you patrol the area for another hour before coming home?"

"Sure, dad." Emmett replied, as he jogged off into the night with his flashlight leading the way.

They headed for home as Tamia walked into her home and started to get something to eat while her laptop was booting up on the kitchen table. While the chicken was in the oven cooking, she got into the chat room with her friends. She told them that she got scared in the back part of her field while she was finishing up doing fence repairs.

FL Horsewoman typed: "You okay, sis?"

Night Owl: "Yes, I ended up calling my neighbor's son Emmett and ended up with the entire family here at my place searching for me and then searching for the wolves that was in the woods. I probably could have just scared the wolves off but I didn't even have my rifle with me."

FL Horsewoman: "That was stupid of you going back there without your weapon, sis!"

Chicago Gentleman: "Rhonda! It is after all, her first week there in the area. She probably should have asked about what type of wild animals roamed the area."

Night Owl: "Thanks for sticking up for me, Chicago, but she's right. I should have asked my neighbors or at least Captain Swan but I didn't. It was my mistake and it will be the last one I make here."

Southern woman: "You better hope so."

Mr. Sweetheart: "Southern, she knows that she needed to ask about the wild animals around there before now. But she is now aware and she'll be more careful next time. Right Night Owl?"

Night Owl: "Yes, this is probably the last time I'll go out to the back pasture without my rifle in hand."

Tennessee Man: "You better call Emmett when you go out back there. I'm sure he'll be moving in the woods with his own gun in hand."

Night Owl: "Well, if I do go back there again . . . may be a while."

FL Horsewoman: "Why sis?"

Night Owl: "My job starts tomorrow morning and I'll be busy all day till evening."

Southern woman: "So why not call in sick?"

Night Owl: "I couldn't. It is my first day there and to call in sick . . . would not make a good impression on the others about me. Rumors can fly that way."

Southern woman: "Surely, the Captain would understand."

Night Owl shook her head: "No, I don't want to make him assume that as a thirty-nine year old bodyguard who is finally doing something simple would be waylaid by a cold. He will come and most likely bring a doctor with him if I called in sick. I do not do doctors but for the one I can trust . . . which happens to be in Missouri."

Sugar pixie: "She has you right there, Southern woman. The Captain would most likely bring a doctor with him for a house call."

Night Owl: "Sugar pixie is right, he would come and bring a doctor with him."

Chicago Gentleman: "And it would pose probably some problems for her to explain things to the doctor as in you wanted a day off and yet it is your first day at work. The Captain would wonder how reliable she really is. It is for her best interest that she goes into work tomorrow."

Night Owl: "Yes it is in my best interest to go to work and deal with this wolf problem later."

FL Horsewoman: "Maybe you should keep your horses in the paddock till you are sure that the wolves were just moving through?"

Night Owl: "I hope you are right."

Chicago Gentleman to Night Owl: "Care to talk privately, Night Owl? I'm sure you are nervous about this new job of yours."

Night Owl to Chicago Gentleman: "But what about the others? Won't they get suspicious?"

Chicago Gentleman: "I'll log off too. I'll make a new room just for us. I'll send you the invite to the room, when I bring it up."

Night Owl to Chicago Gentleman: "Okay."

Night Owl: "I should really cut the chat short this night. I have to double check the forecast and set my alarm so I can get a morning jog in before work. Later, sis . . . night everyone."

Sugar pixie, Southern woman, Tennessee Man, Chicago Gentleman, FL Horsewoman and Mr. Sweetheart all said good night.

_Night Owl and Chicago Gentleman logs off_.

Chicago Gentleman in Private room to Night Owl: "This room is hidden from all eyes, Night Owl. So tell me are you nervous yet?"

Night Owl: "I'm nervous alright. I'm worried that I won't be able to get up in time to do my morning jog and get everything done in time before leaving for work."

Chicago Gentleman: "Well, set your alarm to go off at 5:30 am and you have at least an hour to do your jogging in, get showered, get food into your stomach and then to work."

Night Owl: "That does sound reasonable and I do eat light in the mornings."

Chicago Gentleman: "You should eat a healthy breakfast tomorrow morning, Night Owl. It would keep your energy levels up."

Night Owl: "That is true, I'll figure out what meal I'll have tomorrow morning. But I think I should head off to bed now. I'm sure that my first day at the job will be okay. Talk to you tonight, Chicago."

Chicago Gentleman: "Good night, Night Owl. Pleasant dreams and good luck."

Night Owl: "Thank you. Night."

_Night Owl logged off_.

Tamia closed up her computer and finished her dinner before putting everything up into the dishwasher and putting the food away in the fridge. She locked up the house and then headed for her bedroom, set the alarm for 5:30am, climbed under the covers and fell asleep.

_The next chapter is coming._


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: _My apologies for the long delay in posting this chapter. But I got busy with something else and forgot to update this. So here is the next chapter to this story. It will now start to get interesting._

**Chapter Seven. **

Tamia woke before the alarm rang off. She noticed that the sun was not yet up as she hurriedly slipped into her jogging clothes and started her run after feeding the horses their morning meal. She ran to the top of her drive and looked both ways before starting her jog down the road and stopped half way between her drive and the Cullens' before she turned around and started to jog back down the road back to home. She heard the sound of a car coming as she slowed down and glanced behind to see a car leaving the Cullens' drive. She smiled as she resumed her jog, as it had to be Dr. Cullen going to work. She smiled as she headed down her drive, only pausing long enough to look at the start of her drive and realized that there was no mailbox there. "I guess that's another thing I'll be needing to get a mailbox for my drive or at least a sign that says I live here now." Before she continued down the road to her house where she proceeded to walk inside and head for the kitchen.

She hurried with her breakfast before rushing for the shower and then to her room to dress in somewhat business type clothing and rushing towards her truck and drove towards town and the police station to start her new job.

She entered the station to see Captain Swan talking with a dark brown haired woman and a Native American man. She glanced at the clock to see that she had time as she walked past them and headed for the locker room to put her stuff there instead of being placed by her desk.

She headed for the dispatch room to see Captain Swan walking towards her with the couple walking by his side. "Hi Captain Swan."

Captain Swan smiled at her. "Tamia, I want you to meet my daughter Isabella Swan Black and her husband Jacob Black."

"Hi," Tamia said, as she shook their hands. She eyed Jacob carefully before turning to look at Charles. "Charles, I have a question that I should have asked before."

"Okay, what's the question?" Charles asked.

"Are there any wolves in these parts?"

Jacob looked at her. "Why do you want to know?"

"So I can figure out how to trap them and transplant them elsewhere." Tamia replied.

"What happened?" Jacob asked.

"Last night, I got spooked by a few wolves in the back pasture as I was finishing up fencing it in."

Charles smiled. "I'm sorry, I should have warned you about the pack that runs here. But yes, there is a small pack of wolves around here."

"I just hope they're easy to catch and transplant to another location." Tamia replied.

"All you need to do is have your husband go to each fence post and mark it." Jacob advised her. "That will alert the wolves that the area is already claimed by another male and they'll depart."

"That is hard to do when one is a single lady, Mr. Black." Tamia said, as she held up her hand showing no wedding band on her hand.

"Well, your boyfriend then."

"Don't have one of them either." Tamia replied.

"Where do you live at? I'll go and mark it myself?" Jacob offered.

"Jacob, that is so sweet of you." Bella whispered.

Charles spoke up, "You know where the old Baker house is at, Jacob?"

Jacob stiffened as he looked at Charles. "Near the Cullens' place?"

"Yes, she lives in that house now." Charles replied.

"Chief, a word with you." An officer asked.

"Just a moment," Charles walked away from them.

Jacob's dark eyes glared at Tamia. "If you know what's good for you . . . you best sell that place and move elsewhere." And with that said, he tugged at Bella's arm and walked away from them and with a few more steps out of the station. With a glance behind, he vanished out of the door.

Charles returned and found his daughter and her husband gone. "Did they just leave?"

"Yes, they had something to do." Tamia replied. "I better let the night dispatcher go for the day." She turned away from him and headed into the room.

* * *

The day went fast for Tamia, not many calls to send officers out to. Lunch was done at the desk as she couldn't really leave it for long. Charles leaned against the doorframe. "So what are you doing tonight?"

"I'm going to head home and finish up with a few things there before getting dinner on the table. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's nothing. Have a good trip home." Charles walked away.

Tamia could tell he was slapping his head as she turned to the phone that rang. It was another two hours before the night dispatcher relieved her. She went to her locker and grabbed her things before heading out to her truck to see Jacob standing there. "Hello Mr. Black."

"A word of warning, Ms. Sanders, do not get involved with the Cullens, they're bad news." Jacob turned and walked down the street.

By the time Tamia got the nerve to go after him, Jacob was long gone but no truck or car drove by with him in it. She shrugged her shoulders and climbed into her truck and drove for home after stopping at the local store to get a mailbox for her location and after visiting the post office to let them know that she's putting a mailbox up there found out her mailing address. She headed back to her house after she grabbed some tools to attach the mailbox to the steel structure that she bought for it.

At first, she wondered if Emmett was walking the border between their lands and if he would mark the fence line. But she chuckled at the thought of asking someone else to pee on her fence line. She put her phone in the charger and started to work on dinner.

* * *

Night Owl: "I had the strangest encounter today at work."

Tennessee man: "What kind of encounter? Probably someone asking you out to dinner?"

_Chicago Gentleman sent a glare at Tennessee man_.

FL Horsewoman: "Tennessee man, do I have to come over there and beat you up?"

Tennessee man: "No ma'am."

FL Horsewoman: "Good, now keep your mouth shut."

Tennessee man: "Yes ma'am."

Southern woman: "If that's all it took to make him shut up, I would have suggested that."

_Tennessee man growled_.

Night Owl: "No, it was this Native American who warned me about getting close to my neighbors, the Cullens. It was like he didn't want me even to live here. He called them bad news."

Mr. Sweetheart: "He called your neighbors . . . bad news?"

Night Owl: "Yes, that's what he said."

Sugar pixie: "But you don't believe that right?"

Night Owl: "No, they helped me when I first moved in here with my panels and then moving my furniture about and Alice Cullen spending the night here since I had a concussion. Her dad Dr. Cullen could have pushed the issue of having me spend the night at the hospital but he was very considerate of my comment about running away from there if I was put there."

FL Horsewoman: "You didn't tell me that you got a concussion, sis?"

Night Owl: "I did, sis. Emmett knocked me down by pure accident. It was an accident."

Chicago Gentleman: "Night Owl, did this Native American say who he was?"

Night Owl: "Charles Swan said his name was Jacob Black. Why?

There was no chatting whatsoever in the room, the silence was deafening.

Night Owl: "Is there something wrong?"

Chicago Gentleman: "No, Night Owl, no problems at all."

Sugar pixie: "What did this Jacob say before he found out where you lived at?"

Night Owl: "He offered to go mark my fence line to keep the wolves away from my lands."

Tennessee man: "He offered to mark your fence line?"

Night Owl: "Yes and when he learned where I lived at, it was like he got stabbed in the chest by me."

Mr. Sweetheart: "I guess he doesn't want you to live close to them."

Night Owl: "I guess so, but I'm not going to let that person chase me away from this place. I paid good money for it and I'm not going to move away."

FL Horsewoman: "Good for you, sis. Do what makes you happy and if you want, I could always beat his head in for you?"

_FL Horsewoman *prays* please let me hurt him, please let me hurt him. I really need to hurt something._

Tennessee man: "If he comes on your property, Tamia, you can tell him that you have no intentions on selling your land nor will you be leaving because of what is said about your neighbors."

Night Owl: "Uh, how do you know that is my name, Tennessee man?"

Tennessee man: "Uh, you told us."

Night Owl: "I do not recall telling anyone my name."

FL Horsewoman: "Sis, I told them your name."

Tennessee man to FL Horsewoman: "Good cover, horsewoman."

FL Horsewoman to Tennessee man: "Thank you. Try your best not to reveal who you are to her, please?"

Tennessee man to FL Horsewoman: "Okay."

Night Owl: "Oh, okay."

They chatted about their day and of course, ranted about some people and their attitudes about other people and how some of them act so smug and yet are the cruelest people around.

It was another three hours before FL Horsewoman and Night Owl had to go off to bed. One because it was early morning and the other because of her job that she had in the morning to go to.

Chicago Gentleman to Night Owl: "Have a good day tomorrow, Tamia."

Night Owl to Chicago Gentleman: "Thanks, you also have a good day as well."

Chicago Gentleman to Night Owl: "I will. Night."

Night Owl: "Night everyone."

_Night Owl logged off_.

Tamia shut down her computer and headed for her bedroom. She glanced out her window towards the north to see the house six miles away faintly lit up with lights before they too turned off the lights. She turned to her bed and just fell on top of the bed too tired to climb under the covers. Soon, she fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, the alarm clock woke her up quick and fast. She climbed out of her bed and walked to the far wall where the clock was to shut off the alarm. She turned on the light and looked at the bed, expecting it to be made since she didn't really climb under the covers. But the covers were flung off, which meant one thing she had managed to get under the covers. She scratched the back of her head for a few minutes before she hurriedly grabbed her jogging pants and shirt to get her morning jog in before she had to get ready for the day.

While she was jogging, what happened that night went through her mind. Did she in the middle of the night move from on top of the covers to under them or did she really climb under them when she went to bed, she was sure that she didn't climb under the covers. There was no one else in the house with her that night so it couldn't have been done by anyone, as it was only she there. "Ghosts. I have ghosts in my house." She whispered. "Grand, just what I do not really need."

As she jogged into the barn to tend to her horses before heading for the house for her breakfast and then to the shower and dressed and heading off to work.

The day was a blur for her till that night when she came home and in the remaining light of the day, proceeded to work on getting three raised garden beds dealt with before she started to fix dinner before she logged onto the internet to chat with her friends. She didn't make mention of the ghost to anyone, figuring that she did climb under the covers and didn't realize it.

_The next chapter is coming._


End file.
